Chapter 206 - A Cleaning-ish Story
"Put on your masks."
At the signal of Sato's voice heard from the earphone connected to the radio, the boy covered his face with a gas mask. The men standing next to him all put on gas masks at once, looking like a gathering of aliens.
The assembled members all carried guns in their hands and covered their bodies with protectors and bulletproof/stab-proof vests. Some even held riot police large shields. It was equipment the boys had brought out from the police station.
Behind them were several vehicles that had brought the boys this far, one of which was an armored vehicle equipped with a heavy machine gun on the roof. Because there was a risk of being noticed by the infected due to the sound of the diesel engine, the armored vehicle had never been used until now even after being captured from the Brotherhood. Even so, the reason they brought the armored vehicle to the city area despite the risk of being found was because the opponents they were fighting this time were not infected but humans—to be precise, those who were half-infected and half-human.
While being attacked by the children who used the shopping mall as their base, the boys somehow returned to their headquarters, the Reclaimed Land. A countermeasure meeting was held within that day, and it was decided by nightfall to wipe out the children who were likely lurking inside the shopping mall.
In order to use the police station a short distance from the shopping mall as a forward base, it is necessary to eliminate dangerous elements in the surrounding area. The children of the shopping mall were the prime example of those dangerous elements. While retaining a certain amount of reason, their thoughts and bodies were the same as the infected. If such people were left alone, there was a risk that the police station would be constantly exposed to attacks.
There was also the circumstance that they couldn't leave the children who attacked and ate humans at large any longer. According to Aki, who spoke with their leader, many people have already been killed by the children. It was not difficult to imagine that if they were left alone, further victims would appear. It was inevitable that a sweeping operation of the children would be carried out so that they themselves would not become those victims.
"Are you okay? Shouldn't you take a rest?"
The one who called out was Han, who was aiming a machine gun on the roof of the armored vehicle. The boy was a little impressed that he could tell who he was even though his face was covered with a gas mask. As expected of a former soldier, he thought.
"I'm fine. Besides, you want as many hands as possible right now, don't you?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
In parallel with the sweeping operation of the shopping mall, work to remodel the police station the boys had scouted into a forward base is also being carried out. With the minimum defense force left at the Reclaimed Land, most of the people who could fight were out.
Not even three days had passed since they fought the children. The recovery of his body, which had been slashed with knives, beaten, fallen from the 4th floor to the 3rd floor, and battered, could not be said to be sufficient. But only the boy and Sato had fought the children. It was certain that the sweeping operation would proceed more smoothly if there were even a few experienced people.
"Advance."
At Sato's signal, the armored vehicle Han was riding in began to advance with a heavy diesel engine sound. After that, men holding guns, including the boy, Sato, and Chiba, followed in a line.
The target this time is the children, but there is also a possibility of being attacked by infected who noticed the sound of combat. The boys who followed after the armored vehicle watched in different directions and were on guard for attacks from children or infected. Han pointed the muzzle of the heavy machine gun mounted on the roof of the armored vehicle toward the entrance of the shopping mall.
"No movement ahead."
"No abnormalities in the surroundings. Are they really here?"
The children, who had attacked the boys from their own side when they were attacked last time, showed no movement this time even as they approached the shopping mall. They haven't received a single attack on the way here. Last time, their leader had apparently ordered them to attack the boys and kidnap Aki, but perhaps it's because that leader is also dead.
"Maybe they're scared of us."
"Those guys aren't hiding in fear of death, they're waiting in ambush to kill us. Don't let your guard down."
Sato rebuked the carefree voice. The infected have neither intelligence nor reason, so if they see prey, they charge straight at it. But the children who still retain their reason are different. They wait for the right timing to kill us, and when that time comes, they attack all at once. On top of that, they don't feel fear that they might die, and they don't flinch even if shot. In a sense, they were more troublesome opponents than the infected.
"Team A, advance."
At Sato's signal, several people assigned to Team A, which was divided into several small units, approached the entrance of the shopping mall. The person at the front held a shield on guard for stone-throwing or arrows, and after that, people equipped with weapons like rifles with thick barrels followed. Han's armored vehicle took up a position in front of the entrance and planned to provide support with the heavy machine gun if anything happened.
"Fire the gas guns."
At those words, the people of Team A aimed their weapons from behind their shields. What they held in their hands were gas guns, which are riot police equipment.
Gas guns used for riot control are equipment for firing tear gas canisters. If a human inhales tear gas, tears and runny nose will not stop immediately due to pain in the eyes and nose, and they can be made to lose their will to fight. Although the effect of losing the will to fight is not recognized against the infected, it was thought that movement could be stopped to some extent by physiological phenomena such as coughing and sneezing. It's unknown how effective it will be against the children, but if they cough while lurking, their location will be known.
Along with a muffled gunshot, several gas canisters were fired into the entrance of the shopping mall, drawing a large curve while trailing white smoke. Several more were fired, and white smoke billowed and hung over the entire surrounding area.
"Fire into the upper floors too."
Sato said so and broke the windows of the upper floors with his carbine equipped with a silencer. Several more gas canisters were fired into the shopping mall from the broken window glass as well.
"It's just like fumigation for pest control."
A member of Team B, which the boy led, muttered. He used to be a pest control operator, but the ones they are currently facing are not termites or cockroaches but children who are half-infected and are attacking to kill them.
"Shoot if they come outside."
As expected, they couldn't just barge in suddenly. After firing gas canisters into the shopping mall, the boys waited for about 5 minutes. But no one came out from inside. Is there no one left, or are they holding their breath and waiting for them to break in?
"Alright, we're going in."
"What if we encounter someone inside?"
The method of dealing with it had been decided. It was "Shoot anyone who isn't an ally." Those inside are, ten to one, only children on the verge of joining the infected. If there were people kidnapped other than Aki, it would be different, but as far as her story goes, it's correct to assume that all the people kidnapped before Aki ended up in the children's stomachs.
The barricade at the shopping mall entrance remained as it was when the boys escaped three days ago. A path was made just enough for a person to pass, and beyond that, the situation could not be discerned due to the thick white smoke.
With the member holding the shield at the front, the boys stepped into the interior of the shopping mall. Because there was a possibility that traps were set, they did not neglect to be on guard at their feet and the ceiling as well.
When the boy activated the laser sight attached to his carbine, a red beam extended through the white smoke. Looking at the floor, several corpses of the children Sato had shot when they escaped three days ago remained. Those kids don't have the reason to mourn their comrades, the boy thought.
"As notified in advance, Team B will search the 4th floor, Team C the 3rd floor, and Team D the 2nd floor. Team A will secure the 1st floor. Go."
At Sato's instruction, four teams divided into four people each ran up the stairs to their designated floors. Team B, which the boy leads, is the 4th floor. Thanks to wearing the gas masks that are JSDF equipment, they can move around even in the thick tear gas, but they feel breathless due to breathing through the filter. Visibility was also poor, and it was important to move so as not to create blind spots for each other.
Before the operation, the opinion was raised that if there was a possibility of being ambushed by the children, they should just burn the whole building down. The boy also thought that if unnecessary things could be avoided, that would be better, but Aki's words that a large amount of supplies still remained in the shopping mall made them hesitate.
The children have attacked and eaten many survivors until now. Of course, as long as the children have not completely become infected, they sometimes eat the same meals as humans. However, it seems that their heads were only filled with hunger for human meat, and they didn't show much interest in normal food. Most of those stolen supplies were left untouched and were said to still remain in the shopping mall even now.
Also, even if a fire occurred, they wouldn't be able to extinguish it. The fire department has long since ceased to function. If they could burn only the shopping mall pinpoint, it would be a different story, but it was clear that it would spread to adjacent buildings as well. If the entire city were hit by a large fire, the meaning of making a forward base here would also be lost.
"Wire ahead."
In Team B led by the boy, the member at the front holding the shield stopped and said so. The corridor is blocked by piled up desks and chairs, but they can move forward if they go through the stores. But inside that store, there was a wire stretched at a height of about 30 centimeters from the floor.
It was likely a trap targeting those who stepped into the store carelessly, bypassing the barricade in the corridor. Maybe it was stretched simply for the purpose of tripping someone and making them fall, but they couldn't be careless.
"Alright, cover me."
The boy said so and stood at the very front of the line. And then, as he approached the wire stretched at about knee height, he explored where that wire extended to.
The wire tied to the leg of a table placed in the corridor crossed the store and extended vertically upward at the wall. At the end of the wire extending to the ceiling, there is a ventilation hole cover. The screws that should originally fix the cover are gone, leaving holes, and it seems that if this wire is caught, the cover will come off and something will fall from above.
"What should we do?"
"If we leave it, someone might catch it later, and it's a hassle to disarm it. Let's pull the wire from a distance."
The boy tied a rope he had brought to the wire crossing the corridor and extended it to the shadow of a pillar ten-odd meters away. The children probably didn't have enough knowledge to handle explosives, but there was a possibility. Thinking that something like a hand grenade obtained from the JSDF might fall, the boy pulled the rope after confirming that everyone had retreated to a safe shadow.
The wire was pulled, and as expected, the metal ventilation hole cover fell from the ceiling. Thanks to placing a sofa on the floor in advance, there was no loud noise even when the cover fell on the floor, but what fell after that were several blades.
"Whoa..."
One of the members leaked that. What fell were kitchen knives and iron bars with sharpened tips, and if they had been right under the ventilation hole, those blades falling from overhead would have surely pierced their whole body.
"Troublesome."
If they were infected, they wouldn't set such traps and would just charge from the front, so they could just meet them. But because the children who became half-infected have a half-baked intelligence remaining, they could be said to be more formidable existences than the infected in that they can set such traps.
"Advance."
When the boy said so, the group began to advance again while being careful of traps. Aki was apparently imprisoned in the plaza on the 4th floor, and she said she found a store where supplies were collected on the way to escape. It is also the boys' job to confirm those supplies.
Because it was at a high position, almost no tear gas was hanging over the 4th floor. Just as the boy thought that it would be okay to breathe without a gas mask here, he felt like something moved at the edge of his vision.
"Enemy!"
Before confirming its identity, his voice had come out on its own. The one who jumped out from the shadow of a large ornamental plant pot was a girl brandishing what appeared to be a gardening axe. The girl approached the boys straight without raising her voice.
At the same time, the lids of large cardboard boxes piled up on the left and right of the passage opened from the inside, and children aiming handmade bows appeared. Immediately after the boy hid behind the member holding the shield at the front, the hard sound of arrows bouncing off the polycarbonate shield echoed.
"It's an ambush, fire!"
As soon as he said that, the boy raised his gun and pulled the trigger toward the children. Even if they are half-human, the other half is infected. Eventually, they too will completely turn into infected, and currently, the children have become bodies that cannot be satisfied unless they eat human meat. The current boy did not hesitate to kill them.
But it seemed other members were not like that. Although they were told in advance that the opponents were children, as far as they could see, they looked like nothing more than normal children holding weapons. Of course, if they are being attacked, they can launch a counterattack to protect themselves, and above all, this time it was their job to sweep the children lurking in the shopping mall. The members raised their guns while being a little bewildered, and while protecting themselves from arrows by hiding behind shields, they shot the children approaching.
The boy mercilessly shot the children who charged with weapons. He had dealt with child infected many times until now, and they were opponents he had fought once. Even if their stature is small, he now knows immediately where to aim. First, two shots to the chest, and one shot to the head when their movement becomes dull. He can surely kill them with that.
Even so, for some reason, while shooting the children, the boy was experiencing a different sensation from killing the infected. The thought of whether it was really okay to kill them was stuck in the corner of his mind.
I'm waiting for your opinions and impressions.